Communication
by lilkawa
Summary: She just wants to know that he's fine
1. Notes

_Beauty and the Beas_t doesn't belong to me.

**Notes**

"You're not the only one who cares about him," Catherine told JT. She couldn't believe that JT thought she would willingly harm Vincent. She just wanted to make sure that he was fine. JT told her again why it was dangerous for them to even have any contact with each other and while Catherine could appreciate his point she had to see Vincent, she had to know that he was okay.

She didn't even know what see planned to do until she wrote the words _how are you_ and asked JT to give it to Vincent. If she couldn't see him or call him she would write to him.

000

Vincent didn't look up from his computer when JT entered the warehouse. He was angry and wanted to shout and hit someone or something and rationally he knew that this wasn't JT's fault that he had to keep away from Catherine in order to keep them safe but he really wanted to see her, to know that she was fine.

He heard JT open a book and tear something out and walk over. He hoped his friend hadn't come up with yet another formula that wasn't going to work. He didn't need it right now.

"Here," JT handed him a page from a notebook.

Vincent read the words; he knew that Catherine had written that note. She had reached out to him inspite of his warnings, inspite of the fact that he had run away from her.

"How was she?"

JT glared at Vincent. Was he the only one who saw that this association…whatever it was between them wasn't going to end well? Being in contact with Catherine exposed them and for all they knew the men who wanted them dead were on their way to the basement right now, and he told his friend as much.

Vincent didn't reply but it was clear from his expression that he was waiting for an answer to his question.

"She's fine," JT replied grudgingly.

000

Catherine opened the box and added the latest note to her collection. She knew it was juvenile and silly but she had bought a box in which to keep the notes – she couldn't bring herself to throw out any of the notes Vincent had sent her. There was nothing personal in any of them; they were all related to the case but somehow they made her feel connected to him.

000

"Are you serious?" JT asked him.

"It's dark," Vincent replied, "no one will know."

"I'll know," JT said.

"I just need to know that she's fine."

"You know she's fine," JT grumbled, "I just told you that she was fine."

Vincent pulled on his coat and handed for the door. "I'll be careful," he told his friend. JT shook his head wondering why he even ever bothered to give his opinion; no one ever listened to him.

000

Catherine looked up as Vincent appeared out of the shadows.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he replied.

They stared at each other. Catherine had been waging a battle within herself about whether or not to go visit him and she was glad that he actually had found her before she headed in the direction of their warehouse.

"I'm fine," Vincent told her. "How are you?"

"Fine," she smiled at him.

"It's a bit late for a walk, don't you think?"

"I'm a cop," she replied. "I can take care of myself."

000

As Catherine reached for her key to open her apartment a folded piece of paper fell out.

_It was good to see you,_ she read. As she went to add it to her collection she thought to herself that two could play that game.

000

"You two still pass notes even when you meet face to face?"

Vincent looked at JT in surprise. What was he going on about? JT picked up a folded piece of paper that had Vincent's name written across it and handed it to him. "It fell out when you reached for your phone," he explained.

_It was good to see you_, Vincent read and smiled.

000


	2. Texts

**THanks for reading and reviewing. Thank you very much!**

**Texts**

Catherine wasn't aware of typing and sending the first text until she received a reply from JT. _He's still out_, JT had written. She read it twice and turned back to her report. Joe wanted it on his desk ASAP.

She really hoped that JT wasn't just writing that to make her feel better and not for the first time she wished that she could actually talk to Vincent and found out how he really was. But she couldn't, especially if they were right and she was the reason that he was having the blackouts. It made no sense to her, why and how was she causing the blackouts? Sure, they had a strange connection to each other but surely it wasn't enough to cause Vincent to lose control, was it?

Whatever it was, it meant that they couldn't actually see each other or spend any time together and Catherine was having a hard time dealing with that.

000

JT's phone vibrated and he read the latest message from Catherine. _How is he?_ Whatever else JT might fault her with – causing Vincent to fugue out, making Vincent jealous, making Vincent more visible to the world and generally making Vincent imagine that he could have a real life with Cat – he couldn't fault her devotion to Vincent. She had been sending a message every fifteen minutes.

He looked at Vincent who was currently sitting at the table calmly eating breakfast and decided to read to message out to him. The smile that broke out on his friend's face was wide enough to light up a room.

"She's sent about twenty messages in the last two hours," JT said.

"What did you tell her?"

"That you were still out in the first hour," JT replied, "and then when you woke up I said that you were fine."

Vincent smiled wistfully. He really wanted to see Catherine but he didn't want to hurt her and if she really was the cause of the blackouts, he didn't want to do something that he would regret forever.

He picked up the cereal box and put it back in the cupboard and carried the bowl to the sink.

JT's phone vibrated again and Vincent waited to hear what Catherine was saying this time. _Are you sure he's really okay? Maybe I can just drop by and see him for a bit_, JT read aloud. "This girl is officially obsessed with you," he told his friend.

'Not as obsessed as I am with her,' Vincent thought to himself. He thought about Catherine all the time.

"And I can't believe I'm going to say this," JT continued, "but maybe we get her over here we can sort this out once and for all."

"No," Vincent was adamant. "These blackouts are very unpredictable."

JT stood up, he really couldn't believe he was saying these words, "but if Catherine's really the cause of the blackouts, why not use the real thing? Let her come over here. She's seen _you _Vincent and she hasn't run."

"I don't know how much longer I can expect her to put up with all this," Vincent replied. He didn't add that he was really scared that Catherine was going to move on with her life. A life that didn't include him.

000

JT walked up the stairs; he had left Vincent in the cage and gone out for a meeting at the university. He'd only been gone an hour and he hoped that his friend was fine. Catherine had sent him four texts in that time asking him how Vincent was and he'd replied that he was fine. He hoped that he'd been telling the truth, that Vincent hadn't had an episode in his absence.

He stopped in shock.

Catherine and Vincent were sitting in the cage. Together. Vincent had his arms around Catherine and they were whispering softly.

JT didn't know whether to shout at them or laugh. Well, at least she was here now; they could really test and find out once and for all if she was the cause of Vincent's blackouts.

000


	3. Questionnaires

**Questionnaires**

Vincent could hear JT grumbling in the background but he couldn't respond, he was thinking hard. He understood why it would be impossible for him to be Catherine's fake boyfriend even for her father's wedding, he understood why it was better for JT to take his place. It was the wiser, safer thing to do, but as he went through Catherine's answers to the matchmaker's questionnaire he began to change his mind.

_Strong….._

_Vulnerable….._

_Intelligent…_

_Heroic….._

She wasn't, was she? She couldn't possibly be writing about him, could she? He was probably dreaming and projecting. He was hoping beyond hope that she felt the same as he felt about her.

He opened the next page and read Catherine's idea of a perfect date. It was too…incredible he had to read it aloud to JT.

"Her ideal date is dinner on a rooftop, while hanging out on a fire escape."

"What are you talking about?" JT was confused.

Vincent couldn't believe it. "This is about me," he said. 'This is about me,' he repeated silently to himself. Maybe he could do this; maybe he could go for the wedding and be Catherine's fake boyfriend. He really wanted to and if her answers to the questionnaire were anything to go by so did she.

000

Catherine sat by herself at the table and looked around at the couples dancing on the floor. Everyone, especially her father, seemed to be having fun and she was happy for them. She consoled herself that it was better to be dateless than to hang with some guy she wasn't interested in. Being alone was much better than that and it gave her a chance to think about Vincent.

She really wished she was at her apartment, in the bedroom, talking to Vincent. Over the past week she had spent more time with him in her bedroom than not and it was reaching the point whereby if she didn't find him there sitting on the window, waiting for her, somehow her flat felt empty.

000

"What?" Heather asked Catherine in shock.

"I lied," Catherine replied. Why had she even ever come with that ridiculous idea in the first place? She knew the answer to that question…she had lied because she did have someone in her life. She had Vincent. She had Vincent, and although she couldn't tell anyone about him…yet, just saying aloud that she was dating a doctor called Vincent had filled her with joy. She had been happy to lie to her sister and the rest of the bridal party because she was ready to let the world know that she had someone special in her life, she only wished that he wasn't supposed to be dead. She wished that some ominous group of people didn't want him dead and that he didn't have something wrong with his DNA. But mostly she wished that he was here, now, with her, at her father's wedding.

000

Catherine couldn't explain it but somehow she knew that Vincent was near and as she turned slowly…just in case she was wrong…and looked through the French windows she saw him standing there.

He looked absolutely amazing in the tux.

He had risked exposure to be there with her, to dance with her at her father's wedding. Catherine hadn't thought she'd enjoy her father's wedding, she's thought she'd have the most magical night she could remember, she'd certainly never thought that she would be dancing with Vincent tonight. She almost wanted to pinch herself to see if she was really in his arms in a room filled with people.

Hearing him say that he was there because he wanted to be there, that he was ready to meet the people she'd confessed to, that he was her plus-one, and that he was willing to be Vincent Salinski forever for her, made Catherine happier than she'd been in a very long time.

"I don't want this night to ever end."

Catherine didn't know that she'd said those words aloud until she heard Vincent whisper, "me neither." She looked up at him and smiled.

000

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